Episcopal Presiding Bishop calls for considering needs of people at this week's G20 agricultural min

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>The Episcopal Church

>Office of Public Affairs

Episcopal Presiding Bishop calls for considering needs of people

>at this week's G20 agricultural ministers

>Letter to US Secretary of Agriculture

[June 22, 2011] in anticipation of the G20 agricultural meeting this week in 
Paris, France, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori 
urged US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to consider "the needs of people 
in developing countries most affected by food insecurity."

"I am mindful of the budget shortfalls presently faced by the United States and 
most of the world's industrialized countries," she noted. "Increasing 
investment in food security, however, will strengthen the entire global economy 
and ultimately lead to billions of dollars in savings for the United States and 
other industrialized countries.  Investment in food security truly is 
investment in the future."

>The Presiding Bishop's letter follows: 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

>The Honorable Tom Vilsack

>United States Secretary of Agriculture

>Washington, DC 20560

>Dear Secretary Vilsack,

As Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, I write in advance of this week's 
meeting of the G20 agricultural ministers to urge consideration of the needs of 
people in developing countries most affected by food insecurity.  The Episcopal 
Church is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, most of whose 80 
million members live in developing countries.  This letter comes to you today 
as other leaders of Anglican and Episcopal churches around the world are 
writing to their own agricultural ministers to share this call, with a 
particular concern about the impact of high food prices on small-scale and 
subsistence farmers, many of whom are women.

The focus on food at this year's G20 represents an important recognition by the 
world's leaders that rising food prices present a potential crisis for areas of 
the world most affected by hunger and malnutrition, especially Africa and South 
and Southeast Asia.  With my fellow Anglican leaders, I am particularly 
encouraged by the growing global consensus for reducing food prices through 
increased agricultural spending, research and development in agricultural 
productivity, and the easing of trade barriers.  Moreover, as an American, I am 
particularly heartened by the President's Feed the Future initiative, a 
recognition that food security holds an important key in eradicating global 
poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

To build on these commitments and respond with agility to the looming crisis of 
rising food prices, I urge the G20 leaders to consider four new steps.

First, enhanced global support for small-scale and subsistence farmers would 
provide an important investment in those who produce approximately 80 percent 
of the food supply in developing countries, the majority of whom are women.  
Such support should include financial investment in training; expanded access 
to credit, including loan subsidies and guarantees; improved access to global 
markets; and the development of new measures to help farmers mitigate risk and 
improve small-scale crop storage.  Additionally, world leaders should pledge to 
work to improve land tenure for women in all countries, and to promote women's 
participation in national decision-making about agriculture, rural development, 
and resource management.

Second, it is crucial for G20 leaders to support the calls from agricultural 
ministers in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world for increased 
investment in agricultural research, better dissemination of research 
information among farmers in developing countries, international investment in 
agricultural insurance markets in poor countries, and the development of better 
farm infrastructure - particularly irrigation - in poor countries.  It is also 
critical that industrialized countries reform their agricultural subsidy 
structure, a goal for which The Episcopal Church and many other faith 
communities worked during the last Farm Bill reauthorization and will continue 
to work in the upcoming renewal of the legislation. 

Third, G20 leaders should seek to incorporate food security measures into wider 
strategies for reducing global poverty and achieving the MDGs, as the United 
States has begun to do through the Feed the Future initiative.  An important 
component of this, which has yet to receive adequate consideration in the 
United States, is halting global warming and accompanying climate change.  
Climate significantly affects agricultural productivity, rainfall patterns, 
drought, and crop yields.  A comprehensive strategy for addressing food 
security as part of the fight against global poverty must include serious 
efforts to reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change.

Finally, and most fundamentally, it is crucial that world leaders keep the 
promises they have made already in the area of food and hunger policy.  In 
2009, the world's eight richest nations signed the Aquila Food Security 
Initiative, pledging to achieve clear targets for increased spending on 
agriculture.  Thus far, these pledges have not been fulfilled, though a 
blueprint for the United States contribution has been set forth by President 
Obama through the Feed the Future initiative but has not yet been funded.  I am 
mindful of the budget shortfalls presently faced by the United States and most 
of the world's industrialized countries.  Increasing investment in food 
security, however, will strengthen the entire global economy and ultimately 
lead to billions of dollars in savings for the United States and other 
industrialized countries.  Investment in food security truly is investment in 
the future.

Thank you for your consideration of these important issues.  Know that my 
prayers are with you and all who undertake the costly work of public service, 
and that I remain

>Sincerely yours,

>The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori

>Presiding Bishop and Primate

>The Episcopal Church

_________________________________________________________________

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